Delivering Climate, Biodiversity and Nutrition Outcomes Via Protein Diversification 

Transforming today’s food systems is essential to addressing the converging global crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and malnutrition. Evidence from UNEP, the World Bank and ClimateWorks Foundation shows that shifting towards more sustainable and diverse protein sources can meaningfully reduce land-use pressures, cut emissions, and improve nutritional outcomes. Despite this, efforts to shift our food system toward alternative sources of protein have received a fraction of the investment needed to accomplish these goals. Drawing on the Good Food Institute’s expertise across science, policy and industry, this presentation will outline how alternative proteins – plant-based, fermentation-made, and cultivated meat – can help governments deliver on their climate, nature and nutrition commitments.Presenting evidence from techno-economic analyses, life-cycle assessments, and rigorous reports on land and emissions savings, this contribution will highlight why diversifying protein production is necessary and how it can complement agroecological and agrobiodiversity approaches. Alternative proteins can reduce demand for resource-intensive conventional livestock production, creating space for ecosystem restoration, conservation and nature-friendly farming. At the same time, they can support global health goals by enabling nutritious, accessible, culturally adaptable, and affordable diets across rural and urban populations – the importance of which was emphasised at the Rio Convention COPs (2024) and the UNFSS+4 (2025).In line with the session’s focus on science-policy interfaces, the presentation will detail policy and investment pathways that enable countries to accelerate innovation in this space - mirroring support for renewable energy and electric vehicles - and the scientific insights that can inform them. These include public R&D funding for alternative proteins, investment in infrastructure and scale-up, national protein strategies and just transition support for farmers and rural communities. Examples will illustrate how governments are beginning to connect the dots between climate, biodiversity, and nutrition by incorporating alternative proteins into research agendas, dietary guidelines, and climate mitigation plans.Ultimately, this contribution argues that alternative proteins are a scientifically grounded lever that can unlock synergies across global biodiversity, climate, and nutrition goals. Countries can use this emerging field to drive systemic food-systems transformation and deliver tangible, measurable outcomes for people and nature.